The present invention relates to prolamine blends. More specifically the present invention relates to food grade biodegradable prolamine blends.
For certain applications prolamines had been used in consumer products. For example, zein is a water-insoluble prolamine (protein) obtained from corn gluten. Zein is a nutritious and readily biodegradable product. Accordingly, zein is a very attractive material for use in food applications.
Additionally zein has been used in industrial applications. In this regard zein has been used in creating packaging, coatings, and adhesives.
However, zein is a very brittle plastic material. Typically, zein will thermally decompose before melting. This property is due to strong hydrogen bonding. Moreover, usually zein is used in the form of either a fine powder or an alcohol/water solution. This creates processing difficulties that limit the applications and uses of zein.
In food products, due to its desirable characteristics, there have been attempts at using zein in products such as chewing gum formulations. In this regard, zein has nutritional and biodegradability properties that are desirable in such products. Further, in an application such as chewing gum the fact that zein becomes brittle after it loses moisture is an advantageous property. This feature eases the removal of zein containing gum cuds from substrates.
A number of patents discuss the use of zein in chewing gum. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,154,482; 2,489,147; 5,482,722; 5,139,794; 3,116,206; 5,112,625; 4,863,745; 4,931,295; 5,367,055; 5,482,722; 4,753,790; 4,474,749; 5,409,715; 5,433,960; and non-U.S. patents and published applications: JP95-163300; German Patent DE3043914A1; PCT WO90/12512; PCT WO90/06061; and PCT WO89/09594. Other patents discussing zein include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,325,351; 5,367,055; 5,342,923; and 5,324,351. See also: Shukla, "Trends in Zein Research and Utilization", Cereal Foods World, 37(2), 225 (1992).
However, due to processing problems and other issues with the current methods of processing zein the use of zein in chewing gum, as well as other food grade products and industrial applications, has been problematic.